Safety razor



Fell'zo, 1945. v, B NELSON 2,369,685

' SAFETY RAZOR y Filed March 13, 1944 mok., CJ//c/of' A@ 27e/50H fi, TlAM/W wvl# TTo @ya Patented Feb.`2o,v1945 f UNITED STATES, v lanrlliyr OFFICE o V2,369,685y f "f' ,Y

SAFETY RAZOR p y victor B. Nelson, Rockford, 111. y Application March 13, 1944 Serial No. y526,197

r VThis invention l,relates tosafety razors of the type :nwhich a flexible bladeis bent and clamped against the guard .by turning a screw element on `the handle. It is known that'by backing off the blade edge slightlyl relativeto the guard an improved cutting action` is f obtained with such razors. however be', gauged very accurately in order-to preserve the safety'character of the razor. `The primary objectof the-present invention is to provide a safety razorincorporating a Anovel v Claims. v(o1. :ro-72) ber of .which may be sensed readily during turn- I onfthe nut I2 and coactingwith surfaces It on the handle to hold the nut releasably in a plural- The degree of such adjustment' must r mechanism by which thebacking off radjustment y above referred to may bei'gauged very accurately by the sense of feeling and by which the ad-` justment will be preserved inthe subsequent use of the razor. y The invention also resides inthe novelconstruction and arrangement of the gaugingk means which facilitates manufacture and ease and reliability of operation. 1 a f Other objects andfad'van'tages of' the' invention will become` apparent `irorn'the following detailed ,description-taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in=which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a safety razor embodyingthe present invention. .o f Iig. 2 is a longitudinal section f.,

.. 3 is an exploded fragmentary perspective.

. The'razor shown forpurposes ofillustration:

of the so-called Gillette typefin whicha flexibleK4 y double edge blade 5 is bent around. an arcuate Y guard 6 rigid with one end of a tubular yhandle 'l l. `The blade is flexed and held Vagainst the guard by clamps 8 pivoted at y9 on .a carrier Il) thatvmay be shifted-endwise ofthe 'handle to 'clamp or release the blade.. Such actuation is effected byy a rod II slidable in the handle 'I and moved endwise by turning va-nut I2. rThe latter f. is journaled in the remote end of4 the handle and threads onto the end of the rod I I, az key I3 serving to-hold ythe nut and handle against endwise movement. Thus, byntightening the nuttheblade isbent into'theoperative position shown. As the nut is turnedreversely and loosened, the blade edge is permitted to spring backy ing. Herein this means includes al spring loaded detent` I4 carried` by a thumb piece or knob I5 `cross section extending along thev handle and milled in the end I'I thereof. This end'is of re.

duced diameter so'as to be received in the end of the knob Iwhich also receives the projecting end of the nut I2 and is secured tothe latter as l by a cross-pin I8.

`In the present instance, the datent comprises ra small ball'iISv disposed ina hole'2 in the bottorn 2l of an external groove 23 which is formed near the innerendof the knob I5. The diameter of the ball is somewhat greaterthan the thickness of the knob at the bottom surface 2! so that oneside of the -ball may seat in one of the grooves 22 while the other side projects out- Wardlyfrom the surface 2i. p, y

The ball I9 Vis pressed inwardly by a novelly arranged spring 24 comprising, in the present instance, Lseveral turns ofl resilient wire wound into a tight helical coil somewhat smallerin diameter than the bottom surface 2l and having its convolutions disposed close to each other'. The

axial length of the coil is such as to substantially iill the space between the side walls of the groove 23 .and thereby engage the ball I9 at all times.

'The resiliency of the coil in tending tovcontract urges the b'all radially inwardly causing the ball to seat firmly in any oneof the recesses 22 with which theball isv 'brought into register., At the i Sametime, the ball may be cammed` outwardly as permitted by expansion of the spring coil so as to enable the knob I5 tobe turned and present the ball detentto different ones of the recesses 22. By virtue ofv the coiled character of the spring, a substantial force may be applied to the ball without danger of the spring fatiguing in service use. At' thesame time the arrangement is compact and the construction of the knob to accommodate the vspring is simple and inexpenfsive to manufacture. Y y

The spring actuated detent may, if desired, be constructed as shown in Fig. l comprising apiece 26 of resilient wire lying in a slot 2l that extends longtudinalily of the knob The straight end .28l of the .wire is forced intothe narrow end of the slot andis retained with a pressefft, AThe' other end of the wire is free to move radiallytin the slot, and its hookedend 29 is urged under the spring effect inwardly against the peripheral surface of the end l1 so as to enter one of the grooves 22 whenever the two are in register. Preferably, the upper end of the knob is formed with a head 30 corresponding in cross section to the head 29 of the detent wire. The wire being of rounded section and the walls I6 aring outwardly, it will be apparent that the detent will ride out of the groove automatically as an incident to the application of a small torque to the knob l5. ,Yet, when the detent is seated in one of the grooves, the knob is held quite firmly against accidentalturning` The grooves 22 are spaced uniformly around the handle and the spacing is such that turning of the detent from one slot to the next will, in the final clamping of the blade, effect a movement of approximately .001` of an inch of the blade edge relative to the guard. Accordingly, to adjust the razor to the individual user, the knob I is, after insertion of a blade, first turned as far as possible, that is, untilthe blade is clamped solidly against the guard. Then, the

' knob is slowly turned reversely to back off the blade edge the desired distance from the guard. The user will feel each entry of the ball i9 into one of the grooves 22and thereby may gauge accurately the degree of adjustment so as to space the blade away from the guard the distance best suited to give the desired cutting action.

It will be observed that the backing oif adjustment may be made quickly and conveniently and may be sensed by feeling. The adjustment once made, i't-.is retained effectively throughout the subsequent use of the razor and yet may be reestablished readily following loosening of the blade for cleaning of the razor or replacement of the blade. i

This application is a continuation-impart of my co-pending application Serial No. 446,555, filed June 11, 1942.

I claim as my invention:

l.. In a safety razor, the combination of a handle, a screw member telescoping with the end of said handle and manually rotatable relativethereto, a slot extending longitudinally of said screw member, a piece of resilient wire disposed in said slot with one end portion fastened tc the screw memberr and the other end portion bent reversely and urged against the overlapped portion of said handle, and formations annularly spaced around said handle and engageable with said reversely bent portion to hold said screw 'member in different angular positions while permitting yielding of said wire and when a turning torque is applied manually to the screw member. i

2. In a safety razor, the combination of a hollow handle, blade clamping means carried by said handle, means for actuating said blade clamping means to clamp andl release a blade and including a screw member telescoping within the free end of said handle and manually rotatable relative thereto, means for restraining the screw member against movement longitudinally of the handle, a piece of resilient wire mounted on and concealed in .said screw member and having a detent portion bearing against the overlapped portion of said handle, and formations formed on and annularly spaced around said handle and engageable with said detent portion to hold said screw member in different angular positions, said wire being yleldable automatically in response to the application of a manual turning torque tc said screw member in adjusting the blade within said clamping means.

3. In a safety razor, the combination of a handle, blade clamping means carried by said handle, means for actuating said blade clamping means including a screw member telescoping within a recess provided in the free end of said handle and manually rotatable relative thereto, means restraining the screw memberl against longitudinal movement, means providing a series of outwardly opening V-shaped vnotches annularly spaced around the exterior of said handle and concealed Within `an overlying portion of said screw member, and a spring actuated detent element carried by said screw member and yieldn tatable relative to said supporting member and held against endwise movement, a series of formations on one of said members annularly spaced around the latter, and a spring actuated detent mounted on the other member and yieldingly urged into engagement with said formations to normally hold the screw member against turning, said formations and detent being shaped to yield automatically under the manual application of a turning torque to said screw member in either direction whereby the user may feel the interengagement of the detent and each successive formation to sense the relative position of the blade and clamping means.

- 5. In a safety razor, the combination of a supporting member, blade clamping means carried by said member, means for actuating said blade clampingy means including a screw member rotatable on said supporting member and held against axialmovement relative thereto, a series of formations on Said supporting member annularly spaced around the latter, said screw member having a hole therein opposite said formations, a ball disposed in said hole, and a resilient wire coiled around said screw member and yieldably urging said ball into engagement with said formations to normally hold the screw member against turning, said formations and ball being shaped to yield automatically lunder the manual application of a turning torque to' said screw member in either direction.

6. In a safety razor, the combination of a supporting member, blade clamping means carried by said member, means for actuating said blade clamping means including a screw member rotatable on said supporting member and held against endwise movement relative thereto, a series of formations on said supporting member annularly spaced around the latter, a resiliently expansible wire ring contracted around said screw member opposite said formations, and a detent mounted in said screw member for radial movement relative thereto and engaged on one side by said ring and on the opposite side by said member and formations, said formations and detent being shaped to expand said ring automatically under the manual application of a turning torque to said screw member in either direction whereby the user may feel the interengagement of the detent and each successive formation to sense the relative position of the blade and clamping means. y

7. In a. safety razor, the combination of'a supf porting member, `blade clamping means carried( `by said member, means for actuating said vblade clamping means including a, screw member rotatable relative to said supporting member and held against endwise movement, a seriesof formations on one of said members annularly spaced Y around the latter, a, spring actuated detent ele ment mounted on the other member and` engagetion ofa turning torque to said screw'member in either direction'whereby the user may feel the interengagement of the detent and each successive yformation'to sense the relative position of the blade and clamping means. n

` VICTOR B. NELSON. 

